Google Voice Forwarded Calls Going to Voicemail: Causes and Fixes.

When Google Voice sends forwarded calls to its own voicemail, the cause is almost always one of six things: the forwarding destination does not answer fast enough (often because a Twilio flow uses answerOnBridge or rings a person before answering), the linked number is switched off under Call forwarding, Do not disturb is on, call screening is waiting for someone to press 1, a custom rule routes that caller straight to voicemail, or the destination's own voicemail or an error is involved. The fix is to make the destination answer the forwarded leg immediately and only then do anything slow, such as ringing a cell or starting an AI agent. Confirm which cause you have in the Google Voice call history, then in the Twilio call log for the destination number.

Google Voice call forwarding means a call to your Voice number also rings one or more linked numbers: ordinary phone numbers you have verified and added to the account. Google Voice places its own outbound leg to each linked number. If that leg is not answered within Google's ring window, Google Voice stops ringing and takes the call to Voice voicemail. A forwarding destination can be a cell phone, a desk phone, or a cloud number such as a Twilio number that runs an IVR or an AI receptionist.

We ran into this on our own phone line: a Google Workspace Voice number forwarded to a Twilio number running an AI receptionist. On the first test, callers landed in Google Voice voicemail instead of reaching the receptionist. The Twilio flow was ringing a person first and keeping the inbound leg unanswered while it did, so from Google's side nobody ever picked up.

The six causes we find most often.

• Destination answers too late: the forwarded leg stays in a ringing state (Twilio answerOnBridge="true", a long <Dial> to a cell, or a slow webhook) until Google Voice gives up and plays its voicemail
• Linked number switched off: the number is linked and verified but its toggle under Settings, Calls, Call forwarding is off, so Voice never rings it
• Do not disturb is on: Do not disturb (and, on Workspace, Calendar working hours) sends calls straight to voicemail before anything rings
• Call screening waiting for a keypress: with Screen calls on, Voice asks the answering side to press 1 to accept or 2 for voicemail, and an IVR or AI agent never presses 1
• A custom rule for that caller: rules can send specific contacts or groups directly to voicemail, so the problem looks random until you test from the same number
• Another device answers first or the destination fails: the Voice app or web client grabs the call, the linked phone's carrier voicemail answers, or the destination's webhook errors out

How long does Google Voice ring a linked number before voicemail?

Google does not document a ring time for forwarded calls, and Voice has no user setting to lengthen it. As of October 2026, the Google Voice help pages on call forwarding and linked numbers describe which devices ring, but not for how long. In our own tests, an unanswered forwarded leg fell to Google Voice voicemail after roughly 18 seconds. Treat that as an observation from our line, not a rule. The practical point holds either way: any destination that waits more than a few seconds before answering is racing a timer you cannot see or change.

This is why Twilio's own defaults are a trap here. The Twilio <Dial> timeout defaults to 30 seconds (minimum 5, maximum 600). If your flow dials a cell for up to 30 seconds with the inbound leg still ringing, Google Voice has usually moved on long before that dial ends.

What does answerOnBridge do to a forwarded call?

With answerOnBridge="true" on the first <Dial>, Twilio keeps the inbound call ringing until the dialed party answers. Twilio's docs also state the reverse: when <Dial> is the first verb without answerOnBridge, the inbound call is answered immediately. The attribute defaults to false.

For a normal caller that is a nice feature, because they hear ringing instead of silence. For a forwarded Google Voice call it is the bug. Google Voice is the caller on that leg, it sees an unanswered call, and it applies its own timeout. The fix is to answer first: return TwiML whose first verb answers (a short <Say> or <Play>, a <Connect> to your voice agent, or a <Dial> without answerOnBridge), then ring the person or start the agent. If you want to know whether a dialed cell picked up or its voicemail did, that is a separate problem we cover in why Twilio Dial status shows completed when voicemail answers.

How to verify where the call is going.

Check both ends of the forwarded leg before you change settings. Three checks, in order.

Google Voice history. Open Voice on the web, find the test call under Calls or Voicemail. A voicemail entry with no answered call before it means Voice never saw an answer. If there is no entry at all, the call probably never reached Voice.

The Twilio call log. In the Twilio Console, open Monitor, then Logs, then Calls, and find the inbound call to your Twilio number from the Google Voice leg. Look at status, duration and the TwiML it ran. A short call that ended in a no-answer or canceled state, with your <Dial> still running, is Google hanging up on an unanswered leg. An error with code 11200 means Twilio could not fetch your webhook.

Google Voice settings. On the web, open Settings and check Calls (Incoming calls and Call forwarding), Do not disturb, Screen calls, and any custom rules for the number you test from.

Diagnose top to bottom.

Each step stops at one layer, so you fix the first real failure and retest.

Can you port a Google Workspace Voice number instead of forwarding it?

A Google Workspace Voice number has no Unlock button for the user; port-outs are handled by a Voice admin in the Admin console. Personal Google Voice numbers are unlocked under Settings, Account for a $3 fee (no charge if the number was originally ported in). For Workspace, an admin goes to Apps, Google Workspace, Google Voice, Number porting, Port-out info to get the code the new carrier needs, and Google says not to cancel Voice until the new provider confirms the port. That is a real migration, so forwarding to the new system is usually the faster first step. It also keeps the number on the account while you test.

What is normal and what is a red flag?

A correctly forwarded call should show as answered at the destination within a second or two of the first ring. Normal: the caller may hear a ring or two from Google Voice before your destination answers, the destination's caller ID may show the original caller or your Voice number depending on Voice's forwarding settings, and the call appears in both Voice history and the Twilio log. Voice allows up to 6 linked numbers, and a number already linked to another Voice number cannot be linked again.

Red flags: any Voice voicemail created while the destination was supposed to be on duty, Twilio calls with a short duration and a canceled or no-answer status, and a destination that answers on direct calls but not on forwarded ones. That last one almost always means screening or a rule on the Voice side. If you track these calls as conversions, missed forwards also look like a tracking problem; see website call conversions showing zero and getting phone calls into GA4 correctly.

A missed forwarded call is still a missed lead. We add a missed call text back on the destination and treat answer time as part of speed to lead, so a regression shows up in a day and not a month.